God Gave Mee The Grace To Forgett Nothing Of My
Duty, As I Tould My Father The Successe Of My
Voyage in the best tearme I
could, and how all things passed, mixturing a litle of their languag with
that
Of the Hurrons, which I learned more fluently then theirs, being
longer and more frequently with the Hurrons.
Every one attentively gave ears to me, hoping by this means to save my
life. Uppon this heere comes a great number of armed men, enters the
Cabban, where finding mee yett tyed with my cords, fitting by my parents,
made their addresses to my father, and spak to him very loud. After a while
my father made me rise and delivers me into their hands. My mother seeing
this, cryes and laments with both my sisters, and I believing in a terrible
motion to goe directly on to the place of execution. I must march, I must
yeeld wheere force is predominant att the publique place.
I was conducted where I found a good company of those miserable wretches,
alltogether beaten with blowes, covered with blood, and bourned. One
miserable frenchman, yett breathing, having now ben consumed with blowes of
sticks, past so through the hands of this inraged crew, and seeing he could
[bear] no more, cutt off his head and threw it into the fire. This was the
end of this Execrable wofull body of this miserable.
They made me goe up the scaffold where weare 5 men, 3 women, and 2 children
captives, and I made the Eleventh. There weare severall scaffolds nigh one
an other, where weare these wretches, who with dolefull singings
replenished the heavens with their Cryes. For I can say that an houre
before the weather approved very faire, and in an instant the weather
changed and rayned Extremely. The most part retired for to avoid this
hayle, and now we must expect the full rigour of the weather by the
retiration of those perfidious [persons], except one part of the Band of
hell who stayed about us for to learn the trade of barbary; ffor those
litle devils seeing themselves all alone, continued [a] thousand inventions
of wickednesse. This is nothing strang, seeing that they are brought up,
and suck the crueltie from their mother's brest.
I prolong a litle from my purpose of my adventure for to say the torments
that I have seen souffred att Coutu, after that they have passed the
sallett, att their entering in to the village, and the rencounters that
they meet ordinarily in the wayes, as above said. They tie the prisoners to
a poast by their hands, their backs tourned towards the hangman, who hath a
bourning fire of dry wood and rind of trees, which doth not quench easily.
They putt into this fire hattchets, swords, and such like instruments of
Iron. They take these and quench them on human flesh. They pluck out their
nailes for the most part in this sort. They putt a redd coale of fire uppon
it, and when it is swolen bite it out with their teeth.
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